My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Worldwide 9/22/96

1. Jerry Lynn vs. Juventud Guerrera

This was really fun, got about 7 minutes and both guys were just sorta throwing stuff against the wall. Lynn is wearing his absurd purple and gold puffy sleeve sequin jacket that says "Dynamic Lynn" on the back. Both guys spend the whole matches plumbing the depths of their offense, which is one of the most fun things about this era of Juvy. He does a crazy springboard somersault dropkick that looks like it should've caved Lynn's chest in. Lynn does some cool armdrags that Juvy bumps fast, as Juvy will do. This was the kind of stuff I ate up when I originally watched it. Fast armdrags, big ranas, missile dropkicks, springboard stuff, all of it. A lot of those matches have been kinda disappointing on rewatch, but occasionally you get one like this that fills the time admirably and delivers.

2. DDP vs. Disco Inferno

A guy who looks a lot like Dwight Gooden is in the crowd here with his kids, and Schivaone even says that Dwight Gooden is here. Which would be weird since He would've been on the Yankees at this point, who certainly would have been in middle of a playoff push in the middle of 1996. I'm not sure when this was taped but unless it was taped over the All Star break, that's the only time I could see Gooden being in the front row here. He could have been at tons of 1995 tapings. Dude had nothing going on that year. This match was short but fun, with DDP being enjoyable as a muggy, cigarette smoking heel. At one point he drops a low elbow on Disco and gets up slapping his belly, saying "you know where that was". Disco was a pretty easy guy to appreciate looking back. He seemed like he enjoyed his gimmick and here he had nice stomach kicks, solid jabs, a nice eye poke and bumped all over for DDP's offense.

3. Super Calo vs. Brad Armstrong

Short match, with Armstrong going over! Wasn't actually expecting that as the luchadors were getting a good push at his point and Armstrong was Brad Armstrong. Calo hits a sweet back elbow after running up the turnbuckles, and then hits his awesome slingshot senton to the floor on the Worldwide stage! Crazy. Armstrong takes luchador offense really nicely, and he folds Calo in half with a clothesline and then rolls him right through for the Russian Leg Sweep. Wish we could have gotten more than the 2 minute they delivered, but both guys looked killer in the wimpy time given.

4. Meng, Barbarian, Ray Traylor & Hugh Morrus vs. Scott & Steve Armstrong, Pepe Prado & Tony Mella (?)

Boy I couldn't tell you much about the two non-Armstrong boys. Heenan clearly doesn't know their names and keeps saying things like "Hey Tony, you know this guy who Meng is beating, right? I'm just checking to make sure YOU know." I assume they're both just Florida area workers. Mella is a big dumpy guy, and Prado looks like a more Cuban Keith Hernandez. Shoot "Cuban Keith Hernandez" would have been a cooler gimmick. I normally love when Saturday Night or Worldwide throws on a random WAR multiman, because they almost always get time and then you get to see weird 10 minute matches with an entire team made up of jobbers. But this barely gets 3 which is a waste. Traylor looked good here and laced into Steve Armstrong, who then tagged out to Prado, and the rest of the match was basically the Dungeon of Doom taking apart Prado. Barbarian launches him with a belly to belly off the top, Morrus splats him with the No Laughing Matter. Mella comes in for the save and gets punted out the ropes to the floor. Scott Armstrong wisely stayed on the apron through all of this. Not a horrible payday for Scott Armstrong.

5. Rock & Roll Express vs. Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit

Needless to say I was pretty excited to see these teams hit the ring with 10+ minutes left to go on the broadcast. And the match is totally great. Both teams get to go on nice long runs, neither works face or heel, which is really best option here as they work more of a mutual respect thing but with neither team going over the top with any of the "I respect you!" stuff. Instead we get a hot match with some nice turns, and then a long heat segment on Morton  (you're shocked, I know). All of Ricky's comebacks are really good, and all the Rock & Rolls showing off offense was really fun. It's always a kick seeing Gibson break out the delay headscissors. Morton does a real slick armdrag reversal of a Benoit powerbomb that I loved. Another great moment was Gibson going in for a deep armdrag, whiffing the hook, and just getting kicked by Benoit. Everybody throws snug punches and elbows and it makes the overall work more desirable. Ricky throws some nice corner punches, Benoit elbows Ricky in the mouth. There was some real great arm work on Arn, starting with him missing an elbow to the post. Ricky and Robert tearing the arm apart was real cool, matadoring Arn into a missed shoulder-first corner charge, and Robert doing a neat little slingshot knee drop to the arm after tagging in. I mean, Arn stops selling the arm at one point, but it doesn't really matter in a match like this. Finish is cool with the RnRs getting a visual pinball on Arn after hitting the double dropkick, but Benoit drops a cool top rope elbow on Ricky and flips Arn on top. Not a match I ever realized happened, let alone on a C-show main event, and didn't know the Rock n Rolls were even signed this late into '96, but it was as good as it sounds on paper.

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My Favorite Wrestling! WCW Worldwide 4/16/95

1. Meng vs. Bill Payne

So I called out Meng recently for being a shitty squash match worker, and he still sorta is. But here he was really fun. Maybe something happened between '95 and '97. I need to do a Meng depth chart to see when he started to get lame. His squashes are usually boring because he really has little dynamic offense. He throws a few chops, then he goes to Tongan death grip. But here in 1995 he has tons of offense. He throws these awesome knees from the clinch and hits a beautiful piledriver. He also does a couple cool superkicks that are less superkick, and more front kick right under the chin. They looked great. He also dished out an awesome running clothesline that he doesn't normally do, and in general worked as stiff as people imagine Meng works. We'll figure this out together.

2. Jim Duggan vs. Sledgehammer McGill

Holy shit Sledgehammer McGill?! I've never seen or heard of this guy before, and he's a pretty unassuming black 90s jobber (Steiners reject singlet, flat top), but he bumps like a freak for Duggan by dumping himself on his dome a couple different times on Duggan clotheslines, leaning way into Duggan forearms, even bumping over the top to the floor for one of them! Match went less than 2 minutes, but I want more Sledgehammer the bump freak!

3. Frank Andersson vs. (Not Thee) Manny Fernandez

Well I have never heard of Andersson, who looks like Sting/Tom Howard/Klaus Kinski/Rutger Hauer and apparently won the bronze at the 1984 Olympics in Greco-Roman. They talk during the match about him getting a title shot but I have zero memories of ever seeing him. He's kind of like a Glacier before Glacier, complete with blonde crewcut. But instead of karate offense it's all cool wrestling takedowns and suplexes. They're all rehearsed and really set up, but Manny got dumped on his head a few times by cool leg trips and an awesome deadlift belly to belly to end it. Did this guy ever work New Japan? I'd like to see him vs. Hashimoto.

4. Big Bubba Rogers vs. Kenny Kendall

Poor KK only gets a minute here. Poor guy had a good build and was as tall as Bubba, but it looks like he only ever got job duty for a few years in the 90s. How are there guys like Scott Putski or Jim Powers that get roster spots but guys like Kendall don't get a shot? I mean, none of them are any good, so why not Kenny? Why are there people like Frank!?

5. Marcus Bagwell/The Patriot vs. Dino Casanova/Romeo Valentino

Dino and Romeo were known as The Cream Team on the indy circuit. Ewwww. Oddly enough, The Cream Team was the name of an amateur gay porn Bagwell appeared in several years before this. This was 2 minutes and Romeo/Dino bumped like crazy for Stars & Stripes. I think if this was actually given 8 minutes it would have been a good match. As it was, Bagwell threw a nice dropkick, Patriot's top rope shoulderblock looked good, Dino did a full Jannetty bump off a clothesline. It was a fine squash.

6. Alex Wright vs. Arn Anderson

Boy, this finely illustrates one of the most obnoxious things about televised wrestling. The commercial break before the two guys even enter the ring, I already know the finish. As they cut to commercial after the Stars & Stripes match, Tony goes "AA vs. Alex Wright for Arn's TV Title is coming up next, and remember, TV title matches are a 10 minute time limit." I try and bet Rachel all of the money ever that this match is going to a time limit draw, but I show my hand too early and she doesn't take the bet. Back from break and they're all laying it on thick. Penzer is announcing the time limit which has clearly never happened in any other match you've ever seen that DIDN'T go full time limit, Heenan is saying "I don't think Wright could even last 3 minutes with the champ, let alone 10!" while Wright is walking to the ring. Just dogshit. Match isn't good, either, blatantly obvious finish or not. Wright seems reallllly nervous in there. It's kind of crazy. I don't recall many times seeing a wrestler and thinking, "Man this guy looks scared he's going to break something in there," but Wright seemed completely crossed up from go. You know his little trademark armlock/cartwheel mat transfer? Well they go to that, he slips, they start over, he trips on the kip-up spot and falls on his back, Arn stays with it, Wright gets up to cartwheel and ends up wheelkicking Arn across the face, Wright falls again, etc. Just unfortunate. But Arn tries his damndest and continues being a pro throughout. Who knows how much of an HBK shitfit would have occurred if he were in Arn's boots. Arn looks just fine here, doing all his cool offense that only guys like Finlay seem to do (scraping boot laces across the face, stomping hands). But holy lord the whole match is "HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT ON THE CLOCK!?!?!?" and then Penzer does the 2 minute warning when the match is about 5:30 in and Wright botches the ending by hitting his finisher at the 10 second mark meaning Arn had to kick out instead of let the time expire. Just a total mess. To their credit the fans at Orlando Studios were going crazy with the time countdown so it worked to a certain degree live, obviously. But boy this couldn't have been more disappointing.

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Traylor of the Day: Day 7

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6eadt_big-bubba-rogers-vs-sting_sport#.URRwRmfyDTo

Big Bubba Rogers vs. Sting (WCW, 3/19/1995)

If you haven't seen this match, I highly recommend it. That said, it feels more like a match you would use to illustrate Sting's greatness than Bubba's. Bubba seems to slip up a few times here (literally at one point where he falls off of the top rope), and he's not as dynamic on offense as he can be. All the same, he does still bring a lot of really good stuff to the match. The whole opening comedy sequence was a bunch of fun, and Bubba was great as the big blowhard getting humiliated. I loved him begging off of Sting threatening his hat. Also, the smug look on his face after Sting hurt his knee when Bubba didn't duck enough during a leapfrog. Without knowing better, I'm assuming that was a botched spot, and that these guys were just savvy enough to build the rest of the match around it rather than let it derail the match. But either way, Bubba's look of pride at how smooth he was for taking down Sting when it was clearly an accident was delightful. Bubba didn't have a lot of ways to work the knee here, but I did appreciate how much he wrenched in what he had. Also, he takes a ridiculous bump off of a German suplex for a guy his size down the stretch. So yeah, not the most dynamic Traylor performance I've looked at, but a very good one in a strong match.

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Traylor of the Day: Day 6

The Big Boss Man feeds Pepper to Al Snow (WWF, 9/2/1999)

Previously on Traylor of the Day:

"It was one of those angles that you saw the WWF dabbling in a lot in the early 90's - stuff that was still accessible to a family audience, but was also darker than what you would usually get from the Rock 'N' Wrestling era. Like most of those angles, this felt far more adult than any of the supposedly "adult" angles of the Attitude and post-Attitude eras, and was a far more rewarding watch."

Yeah...I'm not gonna be the asshole who tells you this was secretly a great angle and that you're all pawns of Dave Meltzer for not getting it. I will, however, be the asshole who tells you that this was at least an entertainingly bad angle, and to the extent that it "works", it's because of how committed Boss Man is to selling it. And to Al Snow inexplicably bumping right on his head when he gets thrown over the bed. And the close-up of Jerry Lawler's reaction to the video when it ends. But mostly to how much Boss Man sells it. "THAT'S WHAT HARDCORE IS ABOUT!"

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Traylor of the Day: Day 5

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3nt0z_big-bubba-vs-john-tenta_sport#.URB9AmfnfTo

Big Bubba Rogers vs. John Tenta (WCW, 6/16/1996)

So, like I was saying earlier, this is a feud that was loathed back when it happened. The RSP-W crowd hated it with a passion, and I don't it fared much better with the WON readers. Even now, those of us who love Traylor and are starting to reconsider Tenta tend to not have a lot good to say about either of them at this point in their careers. So color me mildly surprised that I totally dug this match. Bubba takes a crazy bump from the top rope to the floor right at the start of the match, and things don't let up from there. Bubba eats a quality beating from Tenta, who is laying it in extra hard tonight. Love him repeatedly jumping ass-first into Bubba while he's slumped in the corner, totally brutal looking. Bubba gets a lucky shot in with what we would later find out were the infamous Carson City silver dollars to turn the tide. He really starts working double time in this match. Great sequence with him snapping off the enzuigiri, and then quickly charging in with the rocking horse when Tenta falls into position, followed by two more. His signature baseball slide to the outside followed by an uppercut didn't go as smoothly as usual, but he spends most of the rest of the match seriously wailing on Tenta, so I'm letting it go. There's a little bit of work on Tenta's leg, which looked good, and a really impressive back suplex to the 500-pounder. Unfortunately, we get a really abrupt finish not long afterwards, as Bubba comes off of the top and Tenta catches him with a powerslam for the pin. Tenta manages to get ahold of the scisssors that Bubba had cut his hair with, and cuts his goatee in response. Bubba's post-match freakout is delightful. "HE CUT IT! HE CUT IT OFF!" Good times. So yeah, not a fraction as bad as you were told. It's pretty short, going about 5-6 minutes. I wouldn't put it on the level of their '91 Royal Albert Hall match, but I'd put it ahead of the Survivor Series Showdown '90 match no problem. It crammed a ton of action into it's short running time, and I came away genuinely curious to see more of this reviled feud.

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Traylor of the Day: Day 4

The Big Boss Man vs. Dave Roulette (WWF, 4/29/1992)

The squash is solid enough, but of course, the big takeaway from this was Nailz making his debut, jumping out of the crowd and attacking Boss Man. Nailz sucked something fierce, and I guess we'll have to come back later to see how well Boss Man dealt with it in their matches, but for a post-match beatdown angle, he does a great job. His selling is aces, particularly of the nightstick shot to the leg. They put it over on commentary like it broke his leg, and hearing Boss Man scream in agony, you'd believe it. The officials take their sweet time doing something about the guy in the prison jumpsuit assaulting their employee who's been receiving mysterious threats for the past few months, which makes this a little awkward, but otherwise, it was a damn fine angle. It was one of those angles that you saw the WWF dabbling in a lot in the early 90's - stuff that was still accessible to a family audience, but was also darker than what you would usually get from the Rock 'N' Wrestling era. Like most of those angles, this felt far more adult than any of the supposedly "adult" angles of the Attitude and post-Attitude eras, and was a far more rewarding watch.

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Traylor of the Day: Day 3

The Big Boss Man vs. Col. Mustafa (WWF, 10/28/91)

I had forgotten that Boss Man was feuding with IRS at this point. Irwin comes out to talk shit at Boss Man, allowing Mustafa to get an early advantage before Boss Man levels him with a clothesline and chases IRS to the back. This was a pretty fun short match. Sheiky Baby doesn't have much left in the tank at this point, though he does break out what I can only describe as a primitive Exploder suplex that made me stand up and take notice. Boss Man does a good job of making the rest of his offense not look totally feeble, and his own offense is killer, including a deadlift vertical suplex and the jumping spinebuster that he uses to win the match. Not a great match, but I doubt there were too many Col. Mustafa matches better than this.

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Traylor of the Day: Day 2

Big Bubba Rogers vs. Bart Sawyer (WCW, July/August? 1995)

AWESOME competitive squash. Bubba pushes Sawyer around early, but Sawyer fires back with some swank punches to send Bubba reeling. He hits a dropkick, but Bubba swats a second one right out of the air and then plants him with a nasty jumping spinebuster. Funny moment as Bubba puts Sawyer in an abdominal stretch, and then lets out a primal scream as he grabs the top rope for leverage. The ref makes him let go, so he does the awesome thing of just punching Sawyer in the ribs while he still has him in the stretch. Seriously, Bubba is just on fire here, beating the tar out of Sawyer, shit-talking him, intimidating the ref, and giving Bart plenty of opportunities to sneak in some offense of his own, which also looks really good. Bubba is really good at timing Sawyer's comebacks. Always knows when to let him get one over on him to keep things interesting, sells him as a credible threat if he lets up too much, but also knows when to cut him off before it crosses the line from "competitive squash" to "competitive match". Bubba polishes him off with whatever they called the Boss Man Slam at this point, and I just love that move. Bubba pins Sawyer with one finger on his chest, and you totally buy it. Need to watch more Traylor squash matches, because he strikes me as a guy who may have been a great squash match worker.

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Traylor of the Day: Day 1

The Big Boss Man vs. Earthquake (WWF, 10/29/90)

At some point in this project, I'm gonna have to look back on the Big Bubba/John Tenta matches of '96, because those were brutally panned at the time, and yet, looking back now, it kinda makes sense that that program would happen. I mean, I doubt WCW brass was sharp enough to think about it that way at the time, but Traylor and Tenta were good dance partners for each other in the WWF, and it kinda makes sense that you would pair them with each other again in order to try and reignite their respective flames at a time when they were starting to get burnt out. It may not have worked in '96, but these two did well by each other earlier in the decade. I always point to their Royal Albert Hall match when people ask me if Tenta ever had any good matches, and while I don't think this was as good, it was enjoyable in it's own right. It's hampered by a finish that brings the match to an end just when Act 3 should have been starting, but this was really smartly laid out up until then. One of the things everybody from my generation seems to remember about Bossman is how quick and agile he was for his size. I don't know that this match is the best example of that, but it's a great example of why people remember that. These are two big boys, and the match starts out by Quake asserting that he is the bigger boy by shoving Boss Man into the corner and flexing (because in wrestling, fat = strong!), so Boss Man has to take the advantage by being quicker, outmaneuvering him and socking him in the jaw when he gets the opportunity. He also manages to slip behind Jimmy Hart in one of my favorite parts of the match, and Jimmy comically reaches behind himself to feel Boss Man's face, much to his dismay. Quake retakes the advantage with his power, hits a nasty headbutt, and slaps on a bearhug, and we get a really cool moment were Bossman manages to fight him off. He hits a few headbutts of his own, bites his nose, and claps his ears to get him to release the hold...but as soon as he does, he falls to his knees, because his lower back has been damaged so much by the hold that there was nothing else keeping him upright. I was really struck by it. It was just such a clever way to sell the effects of a bearhug. It's the sort of thing that anyone could do, but not too many are actually smart enough to do. If nothing else, I come away from this match thinking of Boss Man as a guy who knew his craft. Earthquake starts focusing on the lower back after that. I should note that Boss Man was in the midst of a feud with Bobby Heenan at this point, and when Quake takes charge, Heenan comes down from commentary to "apologize" for his wrong-doings towards Boss Man, giving Quake quite the managerial dream team. We even get Jimmy lending Bobby the megaphone for a little while, which is another neat touch in a match filled with them. Boss Man digs down deep and starts fighting back, busting out the enzuigiri I forgot he hard, and getting Quake tied up in the ropes Andre-style, leading to the Edge-style crossbody to the guy in the ropes that I also had forgotten/didn't realize he did. Heenan interferes, and Boss Man chases him to the back and gets counted out, ending the match just when it should have been kicking into high gear. This might have been a high-end match with a little more time, but even without it, it's a fun way to kick this off, and I'd recommend it to fans of either of these guys.

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Traylor of the Day

"I want to hear SLLs thoughts on Boss Man."
     -"Good" William Helnick, Evil Overlord of the DVDVR 80's Project

You got it, Will.

Only problem is that, to be honest, it's been a while since I've sat down and watched a decent sampling of the Boss Man's work.  That suits me just fine, though. I became a wrestling fan when The Big Boss Man was at the height of his powers, and I've always had a soft spot for the guy. But unlike other guys I grew up on, that soft spot never went away when I revisited him as an adult, so I'm more than happy to take a deeper look into the career of one Ray Traylor. To that end, I'm going to watch and review a match, interview, or angle from the man every day here at Segunda Caida until I feel I have a thorough and clear (if not necessarily Complete & Accurate) picture of the man's career. Or until I just get tired of it. Whichever comes first. So hook up to the Traylor Hitch, everybody. We're taking a trip down to Cobb County, Georgia, and you better read the signs and respect the law and order. You know what happens if you don't.

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